LOS ANGELES — Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks earned a premature exit in Saturday’s Game 3 for poking the bear below the belt.
Brooks was called for a flagrant 2 only 17 seconds into the second half after he swiped his left hand into LeBron James‘ groin area as the Los Angeles Lakers star dribbled the ball up the court.
It was Brooks’ third ejection this season, which matches Boston‘s Marcus Smart and Sacramento‘s Malik Monk for the most this season, including playoffs, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
It is the second career ejection for Brooks in the playoffs. He committed a flagrant 2 foul that injured Golden State‘s Gary Payton II in Game 2 of last season Western Conference semifinals and was suspended by the NBA for the next game.
Brooks had been booed by the Crypto.com Arena crowd since his pregame routine more than an hour before tip-off. He drew the wrath of Lakers fans with his trash talk targeting James via the media after the Grizzlies’ Game 3 win Wednesday.
“I don’t care — he’s old. You know what I mean?” Brooks said then of the 38-year-old James. “I was waiting for that. I was expecting him to do that Game 4, Game 5. He wanted to say something when I got my fourth foul. He should have been saying that earlier on. But I poke bears. I don’t respect no one until they come and give me 40.”
James scored 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting before Brooks’ ejection.
Brooks had seven points on 3-of-13 shooting in 19 minutes.